Chapter 7 Winner
Daniel looked up at the clock again. 17.05 hours. She must be out soon, surely? He looked at his watch – it said exactly the same time. Picking up his cell phone he noted the large, digital 5.06pm on the idle screen. Sighing, the archaeologist threw it down onto the desk. When he looked up again, Vala was standing in the doorway.
Daniel physically jumped.
Vala didn't speak, just held out the N-652 form towards him.
Snatching it out of her hand, Daniel skimmed the paper quickly, his own hands shaking with nerves. "Granted." He read out. His head snapped up. "Granted?"
Vala nodded, apparently unable to speak.
Uncharacteristically Daniel grabbed her and pulled her into the most enormous hug.
"Granted," Vala blurted out at last, saying it over and over, against his neck. "It says 'Granted.' Me. Me, Daniel. 'Granted.' I"ve been granted citizenship. Really. Me. I have. Me."
Daniel rocked her gently from side to side, feeling surprisingly emotional. He didn't know what he would have done if she'd failed, realizing now that he'd been almost as worried as she had been. The realization had crept up on him, how fond he'd become of Ms Mal Doran. He hadn't understood how much she really did mean to him, until there was a chance that she'd be sent away.
Or perhaps, he thought, with a sudden burst of self awareness, I did realize – I just didn't want to admit it.
Vala looked up at him, shaking her hair away from her face and wearing the most amazing, dazzling smile.
Daniel wasn't sure that he'd ever seen her so happy. He was still holding her tight against himself, her own arms around his back. He felt a strange heat begin to steal over him and found that he couldn't look away from her face and her beautiful, sparkling, dancing grey eyes. Her wide, smiling, kissable mouth – oh crap – when had he begun to feel like this about his team mate?
Daniel swallowed - something was definitely stirring down below on his anatomy. He felt himself beginning to blush before - thank the gods - she pushed away from him at last.
Vala's smile turned to a grin. "Let's find the others!" she pulled at his hand excitedly. "Come on!"
So, still slightly stunned by the unexpected feelings that he'd just experienced, Daniel allowed himself to be dragged out of his office in the direction of the mess hall.
- o - o - o - o - o - o -
The rest of SG-1 had been suitably ecstatic when they heard Vala's news – an impromptu visit to O'Malley's had occurred, with most of the other citizenship candidates turning up as well.
All of the candidates had passed, even the redoubtable Major Oldroyd and Lt Deakin. Much beer was drunk, and food consumed and lots of laughter and dancing and winding down.
Most people ended up having to call cabs to get home, as they had become too tipsy to contemplate driving.
Even Daniel, who was usually quite sensible around alcohol, had spent a large chunk of the evening keeping a tight hold of Vala. Not quite kissing her, not quite hugging, but not quite leaving her alone for anyone else to get hold of either. Daniel had his eye on Lt Deakin, who he was convinced had a soft spot for his team mate. The archaeologist even found himself on the dance floor several times, mainly to prevent the aforementioned Lt Deakin, or anybody else, sneaking in on his Vala.
My Vala, he thought, hazily, through the booze. When did she become that? But he was sure – at that moment in time – he would fight anyone who tried to take her away from him. Daniel staggered gently as both he and Vala fell back into their seats.
Vala grinned lopsidedly.
Sam kicked Mitchell under the table. She shook her blonde head at him, trying unsuccessfully to look cross.
Mitchell's half hearted attempt not to laugh gleefully into Daniel's face was failing miserably. The Colonel resorted to just grinning irritatingly at his team mate, and winking.
"Are you somehow drunk?" Daniel asked his CO, peering through his spectacles.
"Heck, maybe a little bit!" Mitchell responded, following up with a bark of laughter.
There was more than the ghost of a smile in Teal'c's eyes as he sat quietly watching them all.
As the Jaffa was one of the few sober members of the party left at the end of the evening, he offered to perform cab duties for the other members of SG-1.
When they arrived at Daniel's, Mitchell decided that he was going to stay over, as he said that the archaeologist was too drunk to look after himself. The fact that Mitchell was in about as sober a state as his team mate did not escape the others.
Sam took one look at her extremely inebriated friends and said that she would get out at Daniel's too.
Vala was about to join them when something in Teal'c's expression stopped her, and she decided to go back to her quarters in the mountain.
Daniel gave her a goofy grin through the window as he stumbled away towards his front door.
Vala's heart did a little jump in her chest. When she looked back at Teal'c he was smiling.
"Alright, Muscles, I see you there." The legal alien leaned back in her seat. "Let's go and watch some DVD's."
"Is the hour not too late for you, ValaMalDoran?" Teal'c sked her as he pulled away from the curb, eyes now back on the road.
"Nope." She put her feet up on the dashboard. "I'm too excited to sleep anyway. I might ring the president. Not now, obviously, because it's.." she looked at the clock on the dashboard. "..it's – um – three something o'clock in Washington? Is that right?"
"Indeed. The President would not be impressed if you awoke him at this hour, I believe."
"No. It's even worse than when I rang him at 1am. Oh!" Vala paused, then grinned. "I forgot – you're not supposed to know about that. Nobody knows except me and the President. Don't tell Landry, will you?"
"I will not."
There was silence for a while. The dark road slipped by quietly.
Eventually Vala spoke again. "I wish that you didn't have to leave," she told him, for about the sixth time.
"I also wish this," Teal'c sadly replied. "But I cannot..."
"I know." Vala laid her smaller hand on his large one. "I know."
They didn't speak again until they were back at the mountain.
- o - o - o -o - o - o -
The SGC was almost silent. Vala could hear the faint electrical humming of generators, and the odd voice away in the distance but other than that all was quiet.
After she'd left Teal'c and his 'Carry On Screaming' DVD she'd had a shower, and a hot chocolate and laid down in bed, but to no avail. All that kept going through her head now was that the SGC was going to lose Teal'c. SG-1 were going to lose him – the stoic, brave, loyal, caring Jaffa, who had been there at the beginning with O'Neill and was still there now, fighting for a planet which wasn't even his own.
Vala felt tears gather in her eyes. She sat up in bed, resolute. If today had taught her nothing else, it had taught her that things which you thought that you could never do, could in fact be done. Two minutes later she'd yanked her purple hoody on and headed off towards Landry's red telephone.
President Hayes was eating his breakfast when the phone rang and his secretary put a call through from Colorado Springs. He already had a hunch that it wasn't Hank on the end of the line.
"Good morning, Ms Mal Doran," he said cheerfully, selecting a croissant from the breakfast trolley. He already knew the answer but asked anyway. "How did you get on yesterday?"
"Oooh! Mr President – I passed! Really I did! I was totally honest too. Apart from the pirate business, and the smuggling, and the time that I ran a card game out of Norda Carnah. I showed them my receipts from the mall, to show that I like spending American money, even though Daniel said that I shouldn't show them the ones' from Victoria's Secret – I can't imagine why because their clothes are lovely there, a bit skimpy I suppose. I told them about my debit card and bank account and showed them my Forces card and they didn't even ask anything difficult! I knew all of the answers! All of them, Mr President, and they made me read really, really, really easy sentences and then they told us straight after and I was so, well – I was so – well, I don't know what I was!"
The President's laughter broke in on her chatter. "You owe me a vote at the next election, Ms Mal Doran," he chuckled.
Vala beamed on the other end of the line. "You'll get it." She paused. "Actually, I was ringing about something else. I was ringing about – about Teal'c."
There was a brief silence on the end of the line.
"Yes?" Hayes asked her, gently.
"It's just," Vala swallowed, before tugging a tissue from the box on Landry's desk, She was glad that the President couldn't see her at the moment, her face had become all soggy and leaky. "I wondered if you could put a few points to the committee on my behalf. Now that I'm a US citizen. Or rather, after today. We're taking our Pledge of Allegience this afternoon, you know."
"I did know." The President smiled. Unknown to the alien, he pressed the button on his phone to 'speaker.' The four other gentlemen in the room all paused to listen.
"Well," Vala cleared her throat. "We know that Teal'c has done all sorts of good work for the SGC and the Tau'ri in the last twelve or more years since he's been here. And how he's brave and loyal and kind and all of those things. And how he's helping to start a new nation, back on Dakara. So couldn't he be some kind of ambassador? An ambassador to SG-1 in particular? I mean, then he could have like diplomatic immunity, couldn't he? If he was an ambassador."
Hayes raised his eyebrows, as he looked around the room at the other men present.
Vala barely paused for breath before carrying on. "You see, when I was learning all that civics for my exam, well I learned that the colonists came to America originally to escape persecution. And to find freedom. Well, that's what Teal'c did, isn't it, Mr President? That's why he came to America in the first place. So, shouldn't we help him now? And apart from giving up loyalty to other countries…" she paused and flicked to another of the cue card's in her hand, "..he defends the constitution and the laws of the U.S at work every day, I'm sure that he does, and he obeys the laws of this country, and he served in the military and he does important work for this nation – he would still be doing that, wouldn't he? Even if he was on Dakara. And.." she finished with a flourish, "I can't get into trouble for asking you all this because I'm allowed to give an elected official an opinion on an issue, aren't I?"
One of the men who was sitting in the Oval office with Hayes leaned back in his chair.
Hayes caught his eye and grinned wryly.
Vala still hadn't finished. "Now, it also says that you're the Commander in Chief of the military, is that right Mr President?"
"That's correct, Ms Mal Doran."
"So, theoretically, you could make a special law or whatever in Teal'c's case, couldn't you? Couldn't you?"
"I -.."
"Please. Please Mr President." Vala reached for another tissue and blew her nose. "Please, just – please do something."
Unseen by the gentlemen in Washington she laid her head on her arms.
Hayes beckoned over the man who was still sprawling back in his chair and turning off the speaker, handed him the receiver.
"Hey," Jack O'Neill's voice was soft on the other end of the line. "C'mon now. I've got it under control here."
"Oh!" Vala sat up, scrubbing her eyes with the tissue. A tremulous smile hovered about her lips. "I didn't know that you were there! Guess what, I'm going to be a U.S citizen."
"Funny that, huh? I kinda worked it out." Jack raised his eyebrows. "What time is it there?" He looked at the watch on his own wrist, as the alien answered.
"Nearly 05.45 hours a clock," she mis-told him.
"Then you should go to bed, or you're gonna sleep through your ceremony this afternoon," Jack told her. "Don't worry about T – I'm sorting something out."
"Thank you Jack," Vala whispered, fervently. "And tell the President, thank you too. And tell him again I'll definitely vote for him at the next election. And also -."
Jack broke in before she could go off on one again. "Vala!" he spoke firmly. "Go to sleep! That's an order."
"Oh! Yes of course! Yes I will. Goodnight," she ended on a whisper. She plopped the phone down hurriedly. If anyone could sort it out, could make it work for Teal'c, then it was Jack. Jack and the President – she had complete faith in them. Sighing, Vala rested her head on her arms. Landry's big chair was comfortable and her eyes began to shut of their own accord.
"Ms Mal Doran!" A voice boomed at her.
Vala shot upright in the chair. "What time is it?" she blurted out, pulling off one of the cue cards from where it had stuck itself onto her face.
"It's 07.30 hours," General Landry growled loudly.
Vala gulped. "Oh dear." She smiled tentatively. " I – er – I was -."
"I don't want to know." Landry told her. "Out. Now."
"Yessir!" and Vala shot out of the office and down the stairs in the blink of an eye.
General Landry looked at Walter, who stood slightly behind him, mouth agape.
"Exactly, Walter," Landry said. He took the cup of coffee that the sergeant was holding and headed into his office. "Exactly."
TBC...
